Sunday Times 2
Pakistan’s MQM leader bailed after arrest in London
View(s):LONDON, June 07 (AFP) – The exiled leader of Pakistan’s MQM party has been bailed by police in London after being arrested on suspicion of money laundering,a police source said Saturday.
Pakistani supporters of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) political party offer each other sweets as they celebrate the news that MQM leader Altaf Hussain has been released on bail following his arrest, during a protest in Karachi yesterday. AFP
Altaf Hussain was arrested at his suburban home in the British capital on Tuesday, prompting thousands of people to protest on the streets of Karachi, Pakistan’s biggest city and his party’s power base.
“The 60-year-old man arrested on Tuesday 3 June on suspicion of money laundering has been released on police bail to a date in July pending further enquiries,” a police statement said.
A police source indicated the man was Hussain.
Police added that investigations in the case were continuing.
Hussain left Pakistan for Britain in 1992 after a military operation to end ethnic unrest in Karachi, gaining British citizenship in 2002.
But he remains a highly influential figure in Karachi, Pakistan’s economic centre and main port, wielding effective control over the city from his London home and addressing supporters using a loudspeaker linked to his telephone.
As well as major protests which included the torching of at least a dozen vehicles, his arrest prompted the Karachi Stock Exchange to plunge three percent while train services were also halted.
Following the arrest, the office of Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif issued a brief statement expressing solidarity with Hussain.
“The Prime Minister has also directed the Pakistan High Commission in London to provide counsellor services to Mr. Altaf Hussain.The Government is ready to provide all kinds of legal and moral support to Mr. Altaf Hussain,” the statement said.
Hussain founded the MQM in 1984 in response to the marginalisation of Mohajirs — migrants who fled India amid the violence of the sub-continent’s partition.